One of the toughest acts to follow in baseball is actually one of the easiest, swears A.J. Burnett.
“I’ve had the pleasure of following [CC Sabathia] often this year,” said the Yankees’ Game 2 starter. “There ain’t nothing like going after him.
“He sets the tone, he comes out and he attacks. He has that confidence, too. He works hard in between every fifth day.
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“That’s what you want to see from your fellow starters. You want to see commitment and effort. He’s non-stop through the whole season. To be able to throw that many innings and do what he does year in and year out, he’s definitely an ace, number one.
“He’s had a huge impact on me.”
Actually, Burnett started the game after Sabathia just four times this year, consecutive starts in July that resulted in three of his 13 wins and a no decision.
Burnett’s ALDS outing, which came after a Sabathia start, against Minnesota in his first postseason start, was, because of a base running blunder by Carlos Gomez that saved a run, solid. Burnett left the game after six innings, tied 1-1. Now, following Sabathia’s domination of the Angels last night, Burnett has the opportunity tonight for a fifth win in six starts as CC’s Next, helping the right-hander to become a grizzled postseason veteran in a hurry.
“I mean I got six innings in the postseason,” he said.
But pitching ahead is a piece of cake, and pitching from behind is . . . well, 15 walk-off Yankees heroes in 2009 got pies in the face from Burnett in celebration of just how hard going uphill can be.
“I’ll go into Saturday as if it was 0-0,” Burnett said.
Sounds like a plan, like ignoring the steady rainfall in which Burnett and the Angels’ Joe Saunders might be working — “I’ve pitched in pretty bad weather before,” Burnett said — and like knocking down the hit-by-pitch totals [two in the ALDS] as well as the walks.
“Control is always important when it comes to me,” Burnett said. “Getting ahead is the main thing and nd when I do get ahead, not to overdo it and try to make pitches better.
“I think the first start, that’s what you saw. The guys I did get ahead I didn’t put away early. I wasted a lot of pitches trying to put them away and then they got on base. Can’t do that against a team that can run and can do things like Anaheim.”